In the laboratories of the Institute

"Instructions" for future operators

Lectures for future operators of the NICA accelerator complex are going on at VBLHEP. The course programme covers a wide range of topics in the field of accelerator technology and is aimed at imparting the knowledge required for efficient work in the control room.

Since September of this year, on Mondays and Fridays, leading specialists of the laboratory have been introducing students to the principles of operation of all systems of the complex and have been answering questions of interest. Classes are held in person, but video recordings of lectures and materials for them are also published on VBLHEP Internet resources. The course will last until the end of December. The organizers are confident that as a result of the training, the accelerator department of the laboratory will be replenished with highly qualified specialists ready to work on one of the Institute's key projects.

"From the outside it may seem that the work of an accelerator complex operator is not so complex and interesting," lecture coordinator, Deputy Head of the Accelerator Department of VBLHEP Anatoly Olegovich Sidorin says. "But this of course, is not so. This work is fascinating and requires a deep understanding of the accelerator. The scheduled launch of the collider and all other systems of the accelerator complex for implementing experiments is a long, very difficult process of setting up hundreds of complex technological systems. That is why we simply cannot afford to limit ourselves to safety instructions, but are carrying out this training course."

During the lectures, students learn about the principles of operation of the accelerator complex and the specific tasks of the operator, among which the most important is to ensure the beam parameters required for experiments, to comply with the session schedule and to eliminate any problems that arise as quickly as possible. The operator must confidently navigate everything that happens on the accelerator and all its many systems and subsystems.

The course contains more than 20 lectures and is carefully developed by its authors. While providing in-depth knowledge, the authors avoid using complex mathematics and physics and try to make the lectures as understandable as possible to the majority of participants. The organizers themselves (more than 20 people have already joined the work) admit that developing the course became a kind of challenge for them: not being professional teachers, they tried to convey their knowledge and experience as much as possible.

"We expect that at the end of the course, from the entire volume of materials, something like instructions for future operators will be developed. And the lectures will be very useful to those that eventually decide to work in our team. Currently, only commissioning sessions are underway at the accelerator, but in the near future, we expect the commissioning of a large amount of new high-tech equipment and the launch of the collider. Therefore, it is extremely important for us to train several competent specialists today," Anatoly Olegovich notes.

The organizers are not going to prepare any exams or tests during the course. Upon completion of training, only those that choose to become an accelerator complex operator will be tested. Additional training is foreseen for them in working conditions.

Ksenia MORUNOVA